Alex parky

Remembrance Day means different things to different people - based on their personal and family experiences and sacrifices. On Saturday we visited the Changi Chapel and Museum. The Chapel had a wall of orange notes - One had a picture of Jack Hamilton - 2nd/3rd Motor Ambulance Convoy. I've found a picture of him on the way to Malaya. Enlisted at 50 (maximum age allowed was 39). That is a true embodiment of the ANZAC spirit. My grandfather was on the Thai-Burma Railway (which in Singapore is called the Death Railway). He was a PO Telegraphist on HMAS Perth, survived the sinking, spent a short time at Changi before heading to Burma. I wondered if Jack would have known Granddad? Turns out they were in the same group, so maybe. But more surprising was this drawing of my grandad in Burma. The senior officer of the camp was BRIG Arthur Varley - CO of 2/18th and then 22nd Brigade during the fighting in Malaya and Singapore. He organised materials for Jim Collins, an artist before the war, to do secret portraits. The number of deaths was increasing and Varley wanted something for relatives to have of their loved ones to remember then by. Granddad was one of those drawn by Collins. He was one of the last to return to Australia, because he was so sick when they were rescued after the surrender. My mum didn't acknowledge him as her father for a month because she didn't recognise - he had lost so much weight. He went on to have a full and successful life, including serving as a Councillor and Mayor of Frankston, and very active in the veteran's community. My fondest memory of him is playing chess as a youngest and him telling stories from his Naval career, including the night of the Battle of Sunda Strait and getting his men out of the ship after they missed the order to abandon ship. He spoke highly of the sailors who rescued them from the water and cleaned them up, but he never spoke of anything of his time on the railway. Remembrance Day - Lest we forget